Developed as a public online resource by the Getty Institute, the Art and Architecture Thesaurus is a structured vocabulary containing 125,000 terms and other information that may be used to describe art, architecture, decorative arts, material culture, and archival materials. Each record within the Thesaurus is returned as a concept, which in turn, is linked to various terms, related concepts,...

One of the most instantly recognizable buildings in the entire world, the Taj Mahal is a place that millions of people visit each year from around the world. The building and its grounds were built as a monument to Mumtaz Mahal, the young bride of Shah Jehan, the fifth Mughal emperor. Located in Agra, the complex took 22 years to build and represents the labor of over twenty thousands laborers and...

Edited by a number of professors and graduate students from Columbia, Yale, and the University of Virginia, this site offers thousands of photographic images of Asia's diverse architectural heritage. In total, the site contains over 6450 photos of 457 sites across seventeen countries. The geographical parameters of the site are limited to areas heavily influenced by Buddhism, Confucianism, or...

Despite the fact that the famed Swiss modernist architect Le Corbusier only designed one building in the United States (the Carpenter Center at Harvard), his ideas about urban design manifested themselves quite prolifically through the American landscape throughout the 20th century. While there is no one definitive Web site dealing with this architect whose work is synonymous with modernism, this...

The Institute of Historic Building Conservation is the professional institute that represents conservation professionals in both the public and private sectors throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. Currently the Institute has over 1300 members, representing 15 different subfields within the profession. The mission of the Institute is "to establish the highest standards of conservation...

All college graduates have fond memories of their school's campus, whether it be fine hours spent outside of a verdant green canvas in front of the Old Main, or spent in an august brick stadium watching various athletic endeavors. While some university and college websites offer brief tours of their grounds and buildings, the University of Missouri, through its nice University and Building and...

The National Park Service offers this website on the exterior skin of a house, which is defined as a "weather envelope" that "typically includes all the surfaces of its functional and decorative features --roof, chimney, exterior walls, woodwork, windows, porches, doors, and the above-ground portion of the foundation." The site provides some basic pointers on taking care of a historic house....

From the artistic statements of Louis Sullivan to the brutally Modern statements of Walter Netsch, architecture in Chicago is nothing if not eclectic. Given the important legacy of those architects practicing in and around Chicago, it is refreshing to note that the Art Institute of Chicago has been collecting the oral histories of these men and women since 1983. With substantial financial support...

While the name Shangri-La may conjure up an image of the mythical place from the book (and popular 1937 film) _Lost Horizon_ by James Hilton, this particular Shangri-La is the Honolulu home of Doris Duke. The home is widely considered one of Hawaii's most architecturally significant homes, and overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Diamond Head. Duke was the heir to the fortune of James Buchanan Duke...

The Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) project, Tall Buildings, addresses issues of technology, urbanism, and program for twenty five buildings designed within the last decade. This interactive website, designed with Macromedia Flash Player, allows users to compare the height, area, geographic locations, and program distribution. Users can learn about many design issues such as aerodynamics, green...